elder brother
The fountain in Rongxing Garden was gurgling, and water droplets were dancing in the afterglow of the setting sun. Several children were chasing and playing around the pool, their laughter ringing.
Xiangyang and Jin Cang walked and talked side by side. Amid the sound of water and the noise of children, they were immersed in the conversation of the past and were not disturbed at all. They sat down on a bench nearby.
"My father," Jin Cang said, his eyes a little far away, "is a very upright and simple man. He has always held himself to the strictest standards. His definition of family, his responsibilities and his feelings towards his family are also very traditional."
Xiangyang nodded and said softly, "I can feel it."
Jin Cang's lips curled up into a bitter smile: "My mother told him that she loved another person before marrying him, and then that person appeared again. In the end, he actually nodded and agreed to their marriage without saying a word."
Xiangyang was startled, frowned slightly, and asked in confusion: "I don't understand, what do you mean?"
"What I mean is," Jin Cang's voice dropped, "he was very manly and agreed to a divorce without even thinking about it. I was two years old that year. From the time I can remember, I called another person 'Dad' until I was seven."
Xiangyang's eyes were full of surprise as he listened quietly.
"My brother followed my father, and my mother took me away." Jin Cang paused, his eyes cast towards the distant sky, "Then, fifteen years ago..."
Fifteen years ago, in a not-so-prosperous town in central China, the atmosphere in a simply decorated mourning hall was so depressing that it was suffocating.
In the center of the mourning hall, there are two portraits side by side. They are Jin Cang's mother and his stepfather. Both of them died in a car accident that no one expected.
Seven-year-old Jin Cang, pale and thin, stood alone, silently leaning against the altar by the wall, like a blade of grass forgotten in a corner.
His small body was wrapped in an ill-fitting black coat, his eyes staring blankly at his mother's lingering smile in the photo, and no adult around him paid any attention to him.
Several distant relatives were sitting at the long table near the door of the mourning hall. Some of them were chanting scriptures with their heads down, while others were mechanically folding paper lotus flowers, but they kept chattering.
"Tsk, it makes me feel uncomfortable all over. I haven't shed a single tear in all these days." said a shrill female voice.
She was talking about seven-year-old Ah Cang, but her voice was so loud that she didn't shy away from him.
"Isn't it? He's a jinx to my brother. I think this kid is just a jinx, always bringing bad luck to his family."
Another voice echoed, with undisguised disgust.
"Hey, please keep your voices down. Don't let your mother hear. She can't handle the stimulation. Just say less..."
A slightly older voice tried to stop it, but it couldn't suppress the sarcastic and cold remarks.
"What should I do next? My husband and I were killed in a car accident, leaving behind this burden. My mother is old and can't afford to support her. I still want to live a few more years, and I don't want to support such a jinx."
The shrill female voice sounded again, without a trace of emotion in her tone.
At this moment, a steady male voice sounded behind them: "You don't need to support him, he has his own family."
Several relatives were startled and turned around hurriedly, only to see Jin Chang'an leading a handsome young man, standing at the entrance of the mourning hall, looking exhausted.
Jin Chang'an looked solemn and his eyes were as sharp as torches as he swept over those talkative women, who immediately fell silent.
Jin Changan ignored them and walked straight to his ex-wife's portrait, bowed deeply, his eyes full of complicated and mixed emotions.
The young man next to him, fourteen-year-old Jin Yu, also burned incense silently. He looked at his mother's portrait quietly, tears silently sliding down his face, and he wiped them away quietly.
Then, Jin Yu turned around and walked towards the small figure against the wall who was still motionless, as if abandoned by the whole world.
He walked up to Jin Cang, squatted down, and said softly: "A Cang, I am your brother."
Little Jin Cang raised his head and looked blankly at the strange boy in front of him, his voice as thin as a thread: "I don't have a brother, I am alone."
Jin Yu's heart seemed to be hurt by something. He reached out and gently brushed away the messy hair on Jin Cang's forehead, and his voice became softer: "You are not alone. I am your brother, and he is your father." He pointed to Jin Changan behind him.
"Brother? Dad?" Jin Cang's little head was full of confusion. These two words were both familiar and unfamiliar to him.
The young Jin Yu looked at his eyes, which seemed particularly large due to panic, and felt extremely distressed.
He opened his arms and hugged the thin Jin Cang tightly in his arms.
Jin Cang's small body shrank in Jin Yu's warm embrace, like a baby bird that fell from its nest into a tree on a stormy night.
But the embrace was too warm and too strong, and his tense body gradually relaxed its guard.
The sadness and confusion accumulated in my heart finally found an outlet at this moment.
Ah Cang slowly began to cry out, first with faint sobs, then turning into loud howling, as if he wanted to cry out all the fear and loneliness he had felt in these days.
"Cry, it's okay," Jin Yu patted his back gently, "Cry it out, it's okay after you cry, Cang, we're here to take you home."
Jin Cang lay on Jin Yu's chest and cried heart-wrenchingly, but Jin Yu just hugged him silently and let his brother's tears soak his clothes.
Jin Changan, who was standing aside, watched the scene in front of him, and his usually tough eyes couldn't help but become moist.
A gentle evening breeze blew in Rongxing Garden, and Jin Cang's voice was pulled back from memories, the sob of nostalgia still in his voice.
"My brother is seven years older than me. He is the most handsome and talented person I have ever met in my life. He is also the person who loves me the most and supports me the most. He encourages me to do whatever I love. He is a star that I always look up to, and he has also influenced me to want to be a better person."
Jin Cang continued to narrate the past.
That year, A Cang was already 16 years old. His stature had grown a lot taller. As a young boy, he was tall, strong, and flexible.
His body was always filled with abundant energy that could burst out in an instant, and he began to capture attention and applause on the sports field and in competitions.
On a summer holiday, the sports field was empty.
16-year-old Jin Cang, wearing a sports vest and shorts, repeatedly practiced the 100-meter sprint.
Jin Yu took out his mobile phone and used the stopwatch app to time him.
Jin Cang rushed over and completed another 100 meters. Jin Cang was panting and sweating profusely.
At this time, he had broad shoulders and long legs, and was half a head taller than his brother.
"You're 1.8 seconds faster. Don't be proud. Try again." Jin Yu said in a low-key tone, but there was an unconcealable smile in his eyes.
"Okay, two more trips." Jin Cang wiped his sweat and answered without hesitation.
"Silly boy, drink some water first and take a breath." Jin Yu handed a bottle of water to his younger brother, his eyes full of doting.
However, the sports field was not his true destination for pursuing his dreams.
When he was 18 years old, his brother Jin Yu took him to see a movie, which opened up the most crucial connection between him and his dream.
That day, his blood was boiling, and a torrent like magma was rushing through his body. He found the destination he most wanted to go to!
That day, in a second-run theater next to Tonghua Night Market, the movie being shown was "Termites" starring Wu Kanglun.
Before the show started, Jin Cang looked around in his seat.
"Brother, there's no one here. We've booked the whole place for the two of us." He lowered his voice, stuck out his tongue, and said to Jin Yu excitedly.
Jin Yu made a "hush" gesture, asking him to be quiet.
After the movie was over, the lights in the theater came on.
Jin Yu found that Jin Cang beside him seemed to have not yet come to his senses. His eyes were dull and he stared straight at the dark screen in front of him.
Jin Yu was startled, but also found it amusing, so he stretched out his hand and waved it in front of A Cang.
"Cang, A Cang, are you still alive?" Jin Yu shouted in a low voice.
Jin Cang suddenly came back to his senses, his eyes shining, and excitedly grabbed Jin Yu's arm: "Brother, I don't want to be a sports student anymore. I want to go to art school. I want to be an actor."
Jin Yu was shocked. How could he say that? "Giving up on the recommendation? Don't you think it's a pity? Tuition is a huge sum of money..."
Jin Cang interrupted him, his tone firm and excited: "I will go to work, I can take care of the tuition myself."
Jin Yu looked at his brother's eager eyes, hesitated for a moment, and said, "But... you can't even speak with a lisp, can you be an actor?"
"Of course!" Jin Cang immediately retorted, clearly unconvinced, "I don't have a lisp when I speak."
Jin Yu laughed and said, "Come, repeat after me, 'Eight Hundred Standard Soldiers March to the North Slope.'"
Jin Cang took a deep breath and spoke clearly, word for word, trying hard: "Eight hundred standard bearers rush to the north slope."
The two brothers stood up and walked towards the theater door. The theater was still filled with the aftertaste of the movie and Jin Cang's lingering emotion.
"Hurry up! Eight hundred standard bearers will rush to the north slope, and the artillery will run side by side to the north..."
Jin Yu's voice, tinged with laughter, echoed in the empty corridor.
"Eight hundred standard bearers rushed to the north slope, and the artillerymen ran side by side to the north..." Jin Cang followed closely, and although his voice was a little halting, it was full of unprecedented courage and perseverance.
The two brothers were like a pair of birds soaring in the clouds, chirping and standing side by side with one heart. They held hands fearlessly and ran towards their future aspirations with smiles on their faces.
Jin Yu said to Ah Cang: "As long as it is your dream, I will support you."
A Cang kept talking about the past. To him, Jin Yu was like an umbrella, a sword, and a lighthouse; he supported his confused and helpless childhood, split the haze of his doubts about life, and guided him to the direction of bravely pursuing his dreams.
How happy those days were when I grew up with my brother by my side.
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